Coca-Cola to raise prices in lieu of bottler woes

ATLANTA Coca-Cola Enterprises, the biggest bottler for Coca-Cola Company, has said that it will be forced to raise its prices, which could affect prices of its products across the board.

Coca-Cola Enterprises owns about 80 percent of the U.S. market for Coke. It cited higher costs of commodities and a drop in U.S. sales as reasons for its price hike.

For the second quarter, the bottler has reported a loss of $3.17 billion, or $6.52 per share. That compares to $270 million, or 56 cents per share, for the same quarter last year.

Coca-Cola has recently faced a drop in carbonated beverage sales in the United States. Yet the company has managed to keep U.S. volumes at the same rate due to help from sales of Glaceau’s Vitaminwater, which accounted for $4.1 billion last June. But Coca-Cola also reported that U.S. profits dropped off by 23 percent in the second quarter because of the pressure from its bottler’s troubles.

Coca-Cola officials have stated that the company has strong relationships with its bottlers and will consider both volume and price in order to maintain growth and keep its market share outlook positive.

Consumers recognize Sun Chips’ efforts to go green

PLANO, Texas Frito-Lay reported that Sun Chips’ efforts to use more eco-friendly power sources in the production of its popular whole-grain snack chips are not going unnoticed by the public. Sales of the fast-growing snack chip are taking off, the company announced this week.

Sun Chips claims it is “living up to its name,” celebrating the successful opening of it’s the new solar energy source at its plant in Modesto, Calif. Frito-lay and Sun Chips have said that the snack chip’s sales are growing because consumers are reacting positively to the company’s “green” energy practices, plus the snack’s mission to be health-wise: a serving of Sun Chips contains 18 grams of whole grain and no trans-fat, in addition to being low in sodium.

Sun Chips increased its media spend adding $15 million this year for the first four months. Last year, Sun Chips spent a total of $11 million on marketing, not including online, the Nielsen Monitor-Plus has reported.

GoodBelly introduces fruity probiotic drinks

BOULDER, Colo. NextFoods, the new company founded by natural foods guru Steve Demos, has announced the launch of its GoodBelly and GoodBelly Multi health fruit drinks.

Launched by organic and natural foods pioneer, Steve Demos, GoodBelly fruit drinks contain probiotics—live bacteria that help control the balance of certain organisms called microflora that reside in the intestinal tract. These live organisms have been shown to help digestion and provide comfort to people in processing foods.

The namesake GoodBelly Probiotic fruit drinks will be available at Whole Foods Markets across the country this month in a 32-ounce quart container. They come in three flavors; black currant, cranberry watermelon and mango and retail for about $3.99.

GoodBelly Multi Probiotic fruit drinks also come in three flavors—blueberry acai, peach mango and strawberry rosehips. GoodBelly Multi will be sold in 2.7-ounce single serving bottles for around $4.49 per 4-pack.

Forgotten Password

Registration complete

REGISTER

USERNAME *

Spaces are allowed; punctuation is not allowed except for periods, hyphens, and underscores.

E-MAIL ADDRESS *

A valid e-mail address. All e-mails from the system will be sent to this address. The e-mail address is not made public and will only be used if you wish to receive a new password or wish to receive certain news or notifications by e-mail.

Password *

Confirm Password *

Please choose a password for your account; it must be 8 - 30 characters. .

First Name *

Last Name *

Company Name *

Job Title *

ZIP *

Are you a *

Retailer or Healthcare professional

Non-Retailer

How many stores do you operate?: *

Which best describes the business/industry you work in?: *

Which best describes your job title?: *

Please select the newsletters you would like to subscribe to

DSN A.M.
Daily news stories covering the retail drug industry

Breaking News
First-to-the-market with developing stories in the industry